A 6-year-old. A knife. And a hot plate. Sounds like an accident waiting to happen, right?

But at Plainfield Elementary School, almost 400 first- through third-graders ages 6 to 9 years old, are learning real world cooking skills as part of their curriculum (under close supervision, of course).

And they’re cooking with ingredients many adults would shy away from.

On our visit, the school’s second graders are trying their hands at whole wheat pierogies with either cheddar-potato or date-apricot filling. The students file excitedly into the cafeteria to take their seats at the table. After a brief history of the food, teachers and parent volunteers begin handing out supplies to students and an excited din fills the space. You’d expect mass pandemonium from a cafeteria filled with anxious students. Instead, the junior chefs are serious about their work — rolling dough into “sweatshirt-thick” pancakes that can fit inside the pierogi press.

“They thoroughly enjoy this and I can’t help but think this is what school is supposed to be about,” says Jeanne Smith, a second grade learning support teacher, watching her students.

Students cook six times a year through “Food is Elementary,” a program put together by the Food Studies Institute and funded at Pen Argyl by Aetna, says Todd Yatchyshyn.

Yatchyshyn is the health and physical education teacher and afterschool activities coordinator at the school and has been leading the cooking program since it debuted three years ago. He says the response from parents and teachers has been a positive one.

Starting from scratch

In the beginning of the year students take a knife skills course and are tasked with tasting two new fruits and veggies. Over the course of the program, students learn different themed meals. Yatchyshyn says they’ve worked with barley, peas, artichokes and leeks for an Egyptian dish, a soul food stew of collards, tomatoes and hot sauce and a Native American Three Sisters’ Casserole of squash, beans and corn.

“I can’t speak to the effectiveness of changing their eating habits, but it does change their willingness to try new things,” Yatchyshyn says. “Fewer kids each time, each year, ask for a ‘No Thank You’ bite.”

The "No Thank You" bite is the way Yatchyshyn gets students to expand their culinary horizons by providing them with the smallest portion size so they can say they tried something new.

“I won’t stand over them and make sure they try it — but I trust that they will,” Yatchyshyn says. And when the most hesitant of students comes back for seconds? “That’s a positive experience,” he says.

“We utilize positive peer pressure,” says Yatchyshyn. “It only takes one kid in the class to say they like it and then everyone wants to try.”

After their pierogies were rolled, students had to wait until lunchtime to sample the fruits of their labor. Yatchyshyn has hopes that down the line, the food service program will incorporate the student-friendly recipes into their regular lunch menus.

Getting down to basics

The recipes are broken down into colors and varieties of food rather than food groups or serving sizes, making the material easily digestible for young cooks, Yatchyshyn says.

The program goes hand in hand with the school’s afterschool and wellness programs and quarterly parent nutrition seminars. The ideas came from the Keystone Health Conference Yatchyshyn and prinicipal Phil Giaquinto attended six years ago. "Food Is Elementary" is not limited to Plainfield, Yatchyshyn says 2,000 other schools across the country are doing it. But getting these programs off the ground took a great deal of planning and coordination.

“Having a boss who’s a marathon runner and really into fitness (helps). It’s easy to work with someone who’s supportive,” Yatchyshyn says.

And as far as tools and injuries go, Yatchyshyn says they’ve only had four knicks on fingers since the program started. “We have a pretty dedicated group of parent volunteers that supervise the students one on one when they use a knife,” Yatchyshyn says.

Expanding horizons

Victoria Black, of Plainfield Township, is a regular volunteer on cooking days. She has one granddaughter in kindergarten, two granddaughters in second grade and a grandson in third grade.

Her granddaughter Brooke Bowie, also of Plainfield Township, says she likes cooking “’Cause I get dirty.’”

Because of allergy concerns, flyers about the upcoming cooking day are sent to the school nurse, who relays the information to parents who can opt not to have their child participate.

As she helps students rolls out dough, Black admits the best part is seeing the activity through a child’s eyes.

Jillian Morro, a second grader from Pen Argyl, had never sampled apricots and dates, but said she was excited to try them. She says she likes cooking because she wants to learn new recipes to make at home for her Dad.

Kylie Wedge, a 7½-year-old from Pen Argyl, was also preparing to try apricots and dates for the first time.

“I think it’s fun, because I like making new stuff I never knew before,” Wedge says.

“They’ve made some casseroles that I personally wouldn’t taste, but Mr. Yatchyshyn has a way of getting them to try it,” Black says.